Hallow Damage
by KeDe
Summary: How will the Major Case squad celebrate Halloween when the two Major Case divas are at odds with each other as are their partners?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Det. Alex Eames breezed into the squad room pushing a cart filled with goody bags, tins of homemade cookies and a jack-o-lantern. Of all the holidays, she liked Halloween best. She spends hours carving pumpkins, baking scary looking cookies, and stuffing decorative bags with goodies. She stopped at each desk and handed the occupant one of the bags. "We'll have the cookies later." She laughed and rolled the cart up to her desk. She handed her partner, Det. Bobby Goren, one of the bags.

He refused. "You know I don't eat candy. Thanks anyway."

Alex tossed it on his desk. "I stayed up half the night making these. You're going to take it and enjoy it."

Det. Mike Logan came in bearing two huge plastic pumpkins filled with candy. "You tell him Eames."

Mike's partner, Det. Megan Wheeler, walked over from her desk.

Mike looked at Alex as he nodded towards Megan, "After you get him straight, can you work on my partner?"

Megan rolled her eyes at him. "I just don't think we should glorify death."

"We're not glorifying death." Alex tossed her a bag. "We're just providing some fun for the children and ourselves."

Megan was offended. "I deal with death everyday, Alex, just like you. I wouldn't call it fun."

"Whatever," Alex mumbled. She lifted the carved pumpkin and put in on her desk, right in front of Bobby.

"Lighten up, Wheeler," Mike told his partner. "Stop taking everything so seriously."

"Do you take anything seriously?" Bobby asked him.

Logan chuckled and plopped one of the plastic pumpkins on top of Bobby's book. "Have a little something to sweeten that sour disposition.

Bobby sighed and moved the pumpkin to the side and checked the spine of his book. "Halloween didn't begin as a fun event."

"You're going to give us a history lesson now?" Logan asked, chewing on a tootsie roll. "How typical."

Alex turned the face of the pumpkin towards Bobby. "Well, there's no reason we can't make it fun."

Logan rifled around in his goody bag for another tootsie roll. "At the haunted house, I'm going to be the hanging man. Wheeler, you and Goren can dress up as Doom and Gloom."

Alex laughed and handed him a tin of cookies.

xxxxx

After Alex made sure her sister knew what time to drop off her children at the haunted house, she told her goodbye and hung up the phone. She looked across the desk at Bobby. "You are coming to the haunted house, aren't you? "

Bobby looked up from his book. "Have I ever come?"

No, he never had. Bobby would rather stay at his desk reading one of his books or mucking through old case files. "It's time you did. It's for charity. The first round will only be for the cops' families. Later it will be open to the public."

Bobby reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty and tossed it on her desk.

"It's only four dollars to enter."

"For the other times I didn't go." He continued reading and she knew he didn't want to be disturbed further.

Sometimes, well, very rarely, Bobby could be warm and open. She hated it when he clammed up and kept her at arm's length. He made her feel foolish for going on and on about the holidays. If he had small children in his family then he would understand. She guessed that Megan, too, didn't have a niece or a nephew. Not like her and Mike.

xxxxx

"You're going to be sick, eating all that candy," Megan told Logan.

"Thanks, mom, but I can handle it." Mike reached over and grabbed her goody bag and stuffed it in his drawer for later. "You coming to the haunted house?"

"No."

"You gotta come. I'm going to be the hanging man."

"I know, you said that already."

"Oh, Wheeler, stop being a stick in the mud. Loosen up. Have some fun."

Megan thought what she planned to do would be fun. Rather than being around somebody else's squealing children she would rather stay at her desk and watch Bobby. "Halloween is a stupid holiday. As far as I'm concerned, all holidays are stupid. Since my dad disappeared, I haven't celebrated any of them."

Logan felt bad for her. "I'm sorry about that, Wheeler."

"Why? It's not your fault."

"I know it's not my fault but I'm sorry that you continue to let that define your life. You're too young to be so gloomy all the time."

Megan sat back in her chair and crossed her arms in defiance. "I would appreciate if you would stop calling me that."

"I would appreciate if you would stop being that way." He arched his eyebrows, knowing he has hit a nerve in the usually unflappable Megan Wheeler.

"I can only be who I am."

"Okaaay," Mike said, holding his hands up in surrender. He stood up. "I gotta go get ready. See ya later, Wheeler."

"Have fun," she told him and glanced towards Bobby at his desk.

xxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Later that evening, Bobby and Megan left their desks and to go to the haunted house. Both were shy with each other, unsure of what to say. It made it easier that they were tagging along behind two of the officers' wives and their two children.

Bobby considered talking about the weather but decided this was a lame topic of conversation. Why would she care that he always liked the fall, especially, when the leaves just start to turn brown and it was still warm enough outside not to need a jacket.

It was so warm out that Megan wanted to take off her jacket but didn't. She guessed that Bobby was not wearing a jacket because he knew he wouldn't need one. He probably paid attention to things like the weather. Why didn't he say something? What could she say that wouldn't sound trifling? Bobby was so smart and well read, what could she possibly say to him?

They both decided that the best thing to do was to remain quiet and follow the two wives and children.

When they got the haunted house, Alex came up with her two nieces and nephews. "Glad you two decided to come."

At the entrance of the haunted house, zombies, staggering towards them on stiff legs, pointed them to the entrance. The children squealed in delight. Bobby sighed and wondered if he should indeed lighten up and stop acting like a zombie. Inside, bats, or what sounded like bats, flapped their wings overhead. Bobby swatted at the artificial cobwebs that rubbed across his face just as a vampire grabbed Megan and pretended to bite her neck. Bobby pulled her away. "Ease off, Vampy."

The hallway was almost dark. The dull lighting only highlighted the jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, and skulls.

Aunt Alex, "Are these skeletons and skulls from the morgue?"

The dark hallway seemed to go on forever in both directions. Megan wondered how they did that.

They looked inside a box and see a lady with the rubberneck. As they all watched and tried to figure out what this meant, her head started to spin around.

"Wow," one of the kids exclaimed. "That's so cool!"

"I think she works in the cafeteria?" Bobby whispers to Megan.

They continued along the hallway. Suddenly a light switched on and off, effectively blinding them all. A ghoul then appeared beneath their feet through a sheet of plexiglass and growled at them! This was so completely unexpected that like the others, both Bobby and Megan jumped.

The children were frightened and started to run, although they couldn't see where they were going. Alex and some other adults scampered off after them. A ghoul appeared in front of the children and pointed them back towards the group. The frightened children backed up and held onto each other for comfort.

The group slowly continued down the hallway. When the children sawa casket with one half of the top open, they refused to go any further.

"Hey, move it along," Bobby urged. He liked it when Megan giggles.

The children, still holding onto each other, inched closer to the casket and shrieked when they saw what they thought was a decomposing body.

"That's so gross!" a girl said.

"At least it's dead and can't hurt you," a boy responded.

The rest of the children got a little braver and approached the casket. At that exact moment a ghoul swung open the second half of the casket top with a bang and growled at them! The children screamed and took off running. A ghoul, a lady vampire and a different zombie appeared out of nowhere causing the children to pull up short and huddle together. One girl started crying.

"Now, there will be none of that," the lady vampire stated in a smoky voice. "And there will be no more running or we will be forced to drag you all off to our cauldron in the basement." Just as quickly as they appeared, the trio disappeared into the walls.

"What's a cauldron?" one of the children asked his mother.

"It's a huge pot used for boiling things," she told him.

They approached a table with a box on it. On the other side of the box a dim light highlighted a living head with a ragged neck. "The rest of my body is in the cauldron," the head said wearily before expiring.

"Oh, no," one of the kids protested. "They're cooking the rest of his body in a soup pot!"

"I wanna go home now," another kid whined.

"Let's go," Alex said, pulling her nieces and nephew away from the table. "I think we're at the end."

As the audience walked down the hallway, they saw a wooden-framed mirror on the wall. As they looked into the reflection, the image of a ghost appeared in the mirror! The group could then see their own reflection and also what appeared to be the image of the ghost as well.

"That's so amazing!" Megan said.

"It's a ghost," one of the kids declared. "It's not amazing, it's fricking scary!"

Just then, the room turned dark and the floor started to spin.

"What's happening?" a girl asked. "The floor is spinning!"

"No," another boy said. "It's the room. The room is moving!"

"Maybe we should move along," Bobby suggested. The pastrami sandwich he had for lunch didn't feel like staying down now.

The group made their way down a long, dark hallway to what looked like the exit. Some put their hands on the walls for guidance but quickly jerked them back. A sticky substance coated the walls.

"I don't even want to think what that is," one of the mothers said, rubbing her hands on her pants.

Bobby didn't touch the wall but Megan did. He pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She smiled at him but couldn't see his face.

Just then, car headlights came on down the hall. The light blinded them all and they shielded their eyes just as a horn started blaring. The children ran back towards Bobby and Megan. Two ghouls came up behind them and ushered the group to the hidden exit on the side.

Only they were not outside but in another dimly lit room with a railcar sitting on tracks. A trio of lady vampires ushered the children into the railcar.

"What do you think so far?" Alex asked Bobby.

"It was good," he admitted. "You guys put a lot of work into it and you did a good job." He walked off away from the group.

"Yeah," Megan chimed in. "I don't know if I saw Logan back there. He was really into his hanging man routine. I didn't miss it, did I?"

"No, you haven't missed it," Alex said as she and Megan both watched an uncomfortable Bobby off to himself, fidgeting and apparently lost in thought.

What they didn't know was that Bobby was practicing lines to use on Megan while at the same time wondering about police protocol. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Bobby rejoined Alex and Megan at the railcar. He agreed to sit in the back seat in order to "protect" the children from monsters that could grab them from behind. He asked Megan to sit with him. This gesture was not lost on Alex. By now the only seat left was in the very front. She got in, all the while regretting that she wouldn't be able to see what Bobby and Megan were doing.

Once everyone was situated, the lights were dimmed even further. The rickety railcar lurched forward and the children screamed and shouted in anticipation. Bobby couldn't get his long legs comfortable and had to lean them against Megan's. She hoped it was too dark in there for him to see her smile. She got a little bold and adjusted herself so that her back was against his arm. Bobby took the cue and draped his arm across the back of the seat, cocooning her.

The cold water that began to drip on the group took everyone by surprise. Mummies, their wrappings flapping ominously as they staggered forward, grabbed at the children from each side of the railcar. A witch and a warlock cackled as they circled overhead on their separate brooms. The children were frightened and delighted at the same time.

"It all looks so real," Megan said louder than she intended.

"It is real," the kid in the seat in front of them responded as he buried his face in his older sister's shoulder.

Squiggly things brushed across their heads and arms that some of the children insisted were snakes.

Goosebumps appeared on Megan's arms. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Bobby. Through the dim lighting they became transfixed in each other's gaze, wondering if the other also wanted to kiss. The railcar jolted a bit to the side, bringing Bobby's face even closer to Megan's. She shifted just a little then reached up and pulled him closer. They locked lips and both intended to stay that way until the lights came on. They didn't see the bloody-looking man coming towards them with an ax. The frightened children screamed and jostled each other. The ax-man swung at the group but misses.

By the time of the hanging man finale Bobby and Megan were so engrossed in each other they didn't bother to look. The hanging man was supposed to unexpectantly drop down in front of the railcar from the rafters and then be dragged off to the side so as not to make contact with the railcar or the passengers. Instead, after he dropped down, he just swung back and forth in front of them in his ghoulish attire with his head cocked and his tongue protruding. All of the children and some of the adults gasped and cried out in fear.

"Oh, no!" Alex exclaimed. "He's supposed to move off to the side!"

"We're going to hit him!" someone else yelled.

Both Bobby and Megan heard the commotion but were trying to milk their first kiss and make it last. Not until the body hits and drags over them as they passed underneath did they reluctantly pull away from each other. A familiar odor assaulted Bobby's nostrils but he pushed it away along with the leg of the hanging man as the railcar passed underneath him. Bobby wanted to get Megan away from here so they could be alone together. If their kiss was any indication, he was sure she wanted the same thing.

Just as the railcar screeched to a halt outside, Bobby looked at her. She once again had effected her shy-girl look. She was simply adorable, Bobby thought, even with that red stain on her face and shirt. An unpleasant feeling swirled around him and he maneuvered to get out of the seat.

Alex walked up to them. "I guess it was easier getting in than getting out."

Megan glanced at Alex and detected a smirk of disapproval. "Let me get out first," she suggested. Megan wiggled a bit but couldn't seem to free herself.

Alex rolled her eyes when Megan collapsed against Bobby and they both erupted in laughter. Alex didn't notice her older niece run back towards the exit of the haunted house. Alex watched Bobby and Megan in annoyance as her other niece and nephew kept pulling at her.

"Aunt Alex, can we do it again, please?"

"Detectives!" a sergeant shouted from the doorway of the haunted house. "You all need to get over here now!"

Alex stood her ground as Bobby and Megan behaved like teenagers in the backseat of a car.

Her older niece ran back to her. "Aunt Alex! The hanging man was really hung! And cut! He's dead!"

This brought Alex, Bobby, and Megan to their senses. Megan scrambled out of the seat and Bobby managed now to get himself out quite easily. Megan started towards the haunted house but Bobby held her back. The familiar smell – metallic. He realized now what it is. "No, wait!" he demanded.

"He's my partner!"

Captain Ross, dressed as the ax-man, came up to them. "I don't want either of you in there just yet. Officers are securing the scene. No one in or out."

Megan pulled away from Bobby. She wiped at her face and shirt and looked at her hands. "Is this his blood?"

"Wheeler, you need to calm down," Ross said.

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

Bobby waved his hand to quiet her. "We need to try and figure out what happened."

"Did either of you see anything unusual?" Ross asked, looking in turn at each of his detectives.

"I didn't," Alex offered. "Up until the end it was just like we rehearsed it."

Both Ross and Alex turned their attention first to Bobby, then to Megan.

Bobby searched for words.

Ross put his hands on his hips and sighed, clearly annoyed. He has no idea how ridiculous he looked in his ax-man gear. "What's the matter, Detective? Cat got your tongue?"

If not, I'm sure Megan does, Alex mused to herself but immediately regretted being petty at a time like this.

"I, uh, we, didn't see anything unusual, Captain," Bobby admitted, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

A uniform officer approached. "The Crime Scene Unit is here, Captain."

Ross glanced from Bobby to Megan, a knowing look on his face. "Goren and Eames, let's go. Wheeler, stay here and help supervise the children."

Megan started to protest but stopped – not because of the look the Captain, Alex, and Bobby gave her – but because she couldn't bear to see Mike. Dead.

As Ross, Bobby, and Alex, made their way back inside the crime scene, Megan went to sit on the bench with the children and their mothers. She did the best she could to comfort them, especially Mike's niece and nephew. She could still taste Bobby's mouth on hers. The rapturous feeling she had a moment ago was now gone, replaced by guilt. She felt she had somehow let her partner down. She needed to do something to make this right.

xxx


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After telling the children to stay put, Megan rushed back inside the haunted house. She had no idea what she would do. All she knew for sure was that she needed to be by Mike's side, like a decent partner should be. She got to the scene just as Bobby was pulling off the partial mask. Everyone gasped. It wasn't Logan!

Megan's knees were weak and she felt light-headed. She wobbled a bit and a uniform led her to a chair. Both Ross and Alex noticed that Bobby made a slight movement to help her, but stopped himself.

Bobby stood up and glanced at Megan. He quickly looked away. He could feel Alex watching him.

"Anybody recognize this guy?" Ross barked. No one did. "CSU, spread out and search for Det. Logan. Everyone else, stay right where you are. I don't want any further contamination of this crime scene."

In order to muffle his voice, Bobby positioned himself so his back was to Megan. "We could still be searching for a body, Captain."

"I understand that, Detective," Ross answered in a low voice. "And I'm sure she does also,"

"He's up here!" a member of the Crime Scene Unit called out from the rafters. "He's out cold but looks to be okay."

Megan and the others breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"I'm going to question the ghouls and vampires outside," Eames told Ross and Bobby.

"Okay," Ross said. "Make sure the officers get a name and address for all of them. Tell him to check their id's before letting them go."

"Stay with this body," Bobby told an officer. "When the medical examiner gets here, make sure the first thing she does is run prints on this guy."

xxx


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

Later, back at the station, when Ross saw Bobby and Alex going towards their desks, he came out of his office. He was now wearing his normal clothes. "The prints came back on our John Doe. His name is Dennis Whitlock. He did time for the rape of a young girl in upstate New York. I've already called Cragen at Special Victims Unit."

"Any news on Logan," Alex asked.

"He's being checked by a doctor. Wheeler is with him."

Bobby sat down at his desk, one hand massaging the other. A sign that he was deep in thought, usually over a case.

"We've all had a very full day," Ross said, looking specifically at Bobby. "I'm going home to grab a couple hours of sleep. I suggest you two do the same."

"Sounds good to me," Alex agreed.

Alex and Ross looked at Bobby, waiting for him to also agree. Alex was tired and she was ready to go home to get some sleep. She wished she could say the same for her partner. Although he had to be tired he still looked like he wanted to stay up all night and work on a case. Or was it Megan he was thinking about working on?

Ross took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "It's over for you tonight, Detective. Go home and get some rest. That's an order!" He headed for the elevator.

"You heard the Captain," Alex said. "Let's go."

Bobby sat there for another moment before getting up and reluctantly following Alex to the elevator.

xxxx

_To be continued . . ._

To see how this all ends, please go to the Law & Order: SVU fan fic site


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